Everything I've read profiles him as a back-end of the pen guy because he's got a smallish frame and they're not sure he can withstand pitching in the rotation. Terrific stuff, so maybe that'd be a good fit for him.

A God Damn dead man would understand that if a minor league bus in any city took a real sharp right turn, a Zack McCalister would likely fall out. - Lead Pipe

Yeah, he probably profiles as a back-end guy down the road due to a TJ surgery in his past and the pitch count restrictions, but I'm really looking forward to watching him pitch.

He's a guy by stats alone that I've followed since his DSL days in 2007 when, along with Elvis Arajuo, I picked him as a guy to follow. Sadly, Arajuo hasn't had the same development curve, in some part due to injury. But, it's always great to see a guy you've followed for the best part of 6 years make it to the majors.

Hope Trevor Bauer got the message and the wake up call. Pedigree got him his chances. Prolly gonna actually have to earn the next one. As Corey Kluber shows, Tribe don't ultimately care where you came from. Just get here and get better.

There was no game post for yesterday, but anyone surprised to see Esmil Rogers actually looking like a half-way decent back-end type starter? No wonder Toronto was willing to part with a couple of major leaguers for him.

As for today, I don't see how our bullpen doesn't get chewed up further unless we are making a roster move to bring up a pen arm.

dazindiansfanuk wrote:In Joe Smith's defense, it was his 4th straight day pitching - not an ideal time for him to be on the mound.

A little 20/20, though I said it last night at the game, you have to live and die with Hill against Arencibia there. Bonifacio and Kawasaki coming up, Smith would be working on his fourth straight day. Have to leave it up to Hill.

They were caught in a horrible situation yesterday. Preston Guilmet's first career appearance with 2B & 3B and two out. Not ideal, though he was impressive. I also think Guilmet should have been left in to face Bautista and Encarnacion the following inning. Why burn Pestano in that spot if Smith is essentially unavailable and you're not going to use Perez? Not like we were protecting a lead. It was a tie game. I get that it was a "confidence building" appearance for Pestano, but when the bullpen is that taxed, that's not the spot to play mind games.

I'll give Francona a little more leeway for yesterday since the bullpen was wrecked and you'll be lucky to get five or more from Salazar today, but Masterson shouldn't have faced Bonifacio. He had his chance to get out of it and walked a .111 hitter. Go to Hill or even Albers in that spot against Bonifacio. Either one is a better option than Masterson at 115 pitches and clearly fighting it.

A God Damn dead man would understand that if a minor league bus in any city took a real sharp right turn, a Zack McCalister would likely fall out. - Lead Pipe

Looks like a split-change. Man, that is a plus-plus pitch. He's shown pretty good command with the fastball as well. Good life, good explosion. Waiting to see him mix in the curve and slider, even if they're just for show.

Kid punches out the side hacking in the 2nd.

A God Damn dead man would understand that if a minor league bus in any city took a real sharp right turn, a Zack McCalister would likely fall out. - Lead Pipe

Home on my lunch break. All of his change ups have been nasty, especially when he can run it up there at 97. If he has those two pitches, he may not need a third to be an effective starter.

It's funny, coming into 2013 his slider was his best secondary offering. Changeup was flat and inconsistent. This year, it's been the opposite. Almost like he worked exclusively on the changeup this offseason at the expense of the slider.

Both pitches flash plus. If either remain consistently plus and the other can be consistently above-average, he can stick in the rotation. If not, he'll be destined for the bullpen. Gotta have 3 pitches to consistently get MLB hitters out.

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Percentages favor starters with 3 offerings but it's not always the case. Randy Johnson was a 2 pitch pitcher. Bartolo Colon has thrown just his fastball 85% of the time this year. Shelby Miller has thrown his fastball/curveball 96% of the time this year.

Guys can succeed with 2 pitches. Will Salazar? Who knows. I only saw the first two innings and don't remember even seeing a slider thrown. All I know is he made some guys look like fools today off just his fastball/changeup combo. Nasty, filthy stuff. Reminded me of when a young James Shields used to carve up the Indians while with the Devil Rays, only Salazar throws harder.

rebelwithoutaclue wrote:Guys can succeed with 2 pitches. Will Salazar? Who knows. I only saw the first two innings and don't remember even seeing a slider thrown. All I know is he made some guys look like fools today off just his fastball/changeup combo. Nasty, filthy stuff. Reminded me of when a young James Shields used to carve up the Indians while with the Devil Rays, only Salazar throws harder.

When the PITCHf/x data comes out, I think we'll see 6-8 sliders mixed in. I didn't see any curveballs, which he supposedly throws. I did see a couple straight changes that didn't dive like the split-change. Looked like there were some fastballs at 93-94 that had a little comeback run. That along with the 95+ straight four-seamer.

Seemed to me like he threw five pitches. Two, four, split-change, straight change, slider. Two plus offerings with the four and split-change. Serviceable straight change and slider. Don't think I saw enough two-seamers to evaluate, but it's an extra wrinkle. That's my amateur opinion on his pitches. Doesn't jive with the scouting reports I've seen, but I was watching pretty closely.

I don't think it's the stuff or the repertoire that project him to the pen, I think it's his size and durability.

A God Damn dead man would understand that if a minor league bus in any city took a real sharp right turn, a Zack McCalister would likely fall out. - Lead Pipe

When the PITCHf/x data comes out, I think we'll see 6-8 sliders mixed in. I didn't see any curveballs, which he supposedly throws. I did see a couple straight changes that didn't dive like the split-change. Looked like there were some fastballs at 93-94 that had a little comeback run. That along with the 95+ straight four-seamer.

Yeah I taped the game and am gonna watch it when I get home. It will be interesting to see how he attacked the hitters the second time through the lineup. If he can maintain the fastball and changeup as borderline plus/plus pitches, he'll only need to show a 3rd/4th pitch to keep guys guessing.

And to your other point, he did seem slender out there. He's listed at 6'0 190 but didn't look 190, maybe 175. He's only 23 though so time will tell if he can add some extra weight. Definitely has the stuff.

You guys had to enjoy the propenents comps of TOm Glavine and Jamie Moyer when talking those guys though.

That was always my favorite. They'd compare our stiffs with 2 of maybe the 4,000 or so that never did. But we were lucky enough to have the 3rd & 4th in our system...

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Salazar got screwed by the ump in the 6th. The ump failed to call a 3rd strike on Thole to lead off the 5th on a pitch that was CLEARLY a strike... not even borderline. Almost right down the middle. Thole then gets a cheap hit, the first hit off Salazar. Then two outs later, Thole comes around to score when Bautista gets the 2nd hit off Salazar... However, had Thole been appropriately called out on strikes, the inning would have been over and Salazar would have had 6 no-hit innings in his 1st ever start.

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OldDawg wrote:Salazar got screwed by the ump in the 6th. The ump failed to call a 3rd strike on Thole to lead off the 5th on a pitch that was CLEARLY a strike... not even borderline. Almost right down the middle. Thole then gets a cheap hit, the first hit off Salazar. Then two outs later, Thole comes around to score when Bautista gets the 2nd hit off Salazar... However, had Thole been appropriately called out on strikes, the inning would have been over and Salazar would have had 6 no-hit innings in his 1st ever start.

That call was beyond belief. Yan looks back at the ump with a clearly WTF? look you can see through the mask. Even Thole was shaking his head.